These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are a tasty and healthy take on the original battered and fried Buffalo Chicken Wings. They are full of flavor from herbs and veggies like garlic, onions, celery, parsley and green onions, and we’re bringing the heat with a little bit of spicy cayenne and a nice coating of Buffalo Sauce. But the most valuable player in this game is the Blue Cheese sauce! With buttermilk, blue cheese crumbles, plain yogurt, lemon juice and a little mayo - it’s a definite game changer!
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Servings: 2 meatballs
- Yield: 10-11
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cooking Time: 25 min
Ingredients
- ¾ cup almond meal (or bread crumbs)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped celery, plus another ⅓ cup for garnish
- ½ small onion, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 pound lean ground chicken
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon ground Cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt & pepper
- ⅓ cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce, or Tabasco Sauce for a spicier flavor
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar (or 1 teaspoon regular white sugar)
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, almond meal, egg, garlic, onion powder, green onions, salt, pepper, and cayenne. With a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined.
- Roll the mixture into 1¼-to-1½-inch meatballs, forming about 21 meatballs.
- Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the meatball reads 165 degrees.
- To make the Buffalo Sauce, add butter and sugar to a large pot over medium heat, and stir in Tabasco sauce. Allow the sauce to incorporate for 1-2 minutes, then turn off heat.
- Add the cooked meatballs to the pot, and gently coat them in the sauce. As the sauce cools, it will form a nice coating that sticks to the meatballs.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with blue cheese sauce, if desired
Recipe Tags
For The Blue Cheese Sauce:
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 ounce melted in microwave)
- One third cup fat free buttermilk
- Juice of ¼ lemon, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced green onion
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
Instructions:
- Combine the first seven ingredients in a small bowl.
- Smash some of the blue cheese crumbles with the back of a spoon and stir to incorporate. Add parsley, onion, & celery.
> Use the time while the meatballs are cooking in the oven to prepare the Blue Cheese Sauce and the Buffalo Sauce.
> Try these m-balls in a slider bun, or on a fresh piece of bibb lettuce with some extra chopped celery or blue cheese crumbles. Mmmm!!!
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